Sunday, October 7, 20th Sunday after Pentecost

The Holy Eucharist at 8 a.m., Rite I, Fr. Pence officiating
The Holy Eucharist, Rite II, Fr. Hoffman officiating

Church School at 10 a.m.; childcare available 9:45 a.m.
Worship notes

Sunday, October 7, Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
The Holy Eucharist at 8 a.m., Rite I, Fr. Pence officiating
The Holy Eucharist at 10 a.m., Rite II, Fr. Hoffman officiating

The Collect:
Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscious is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. A men.

This week’s lessons: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 8; Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16

The Epistle
“Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word.” Hebrews 1:1-3a
The Gospel |Mark 10:2-16
" Let the little children come to me...."
Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
The week of October 7

Sunday, 8 a.m., The Holy Eucharist, Rite I
Sunday, 9 a.m., Choir rehearsal
Sunday, 9:45 a.m. childcare available
Sunday, 10 a.m., The Holy Eucharist, Rite II
Sunday, 10 a.m., Church School for children

Tuesday, 10 a.m., Julian of Norwich Prayer Group
Tuesday, 11:30 a.m., Charlie’s Lunch Bunch
Wednesday, 7 p.m., Mission Leadership Team
Wednesday, 8 a.m., The Holy Eucharist, Rite II; no yoga class at 8:30 a.m.
Seminarian Shane Spellmeyer's Sermon Accepted for Publication by Church Preaching Foundation

[From Shane's Facebook page and shared with his permission.] "Back in May I was given the chance to attend the Preaching Excellence Program, sponsored by the Episcopal Preaching Foundation . Seminarians of the Episcopal Church gathered in Roslyn, Virginia from around the country to share their sermons and work on their sacred rhetorical craft together, with a fantastic faculty of fellow sermonators (shoutout to Susan Ironside!).

My sermon was selected with nine other student sermons to be included in the "2018 Book of Sermons", published by the Episcopal Preaching Foundation.

My sermon was over the Divine Call to Wilderness, a reflection on the presence of God in the Wild beyond the scope of our normal experience. The sermon also offers a kind of preliminary reflection on my "Great Western Drive" which took place later in the summer.

If you'd like to read that sermon, follow this link to my blog. I definitely cried while delivering it."
Contribute to ECW's White Elephant Boutique,
Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20

Mark your calendar to work and/or shop at ECW’s White Elephant Boutique Sale on Friday, October 19, from 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 20, from 9 a.m. to noon in Pearson Hall.

What May I Contribute to the Sale?
Artwork or prints, nice linens, glassware, pottery, silver or brass, antiques, china, jewelry, fashionable purses, upscale kitchenware, seasonal items (Christmas and Halloween), and collectibles.

What Items are Not Wanted?
Furniture, electronics, clothes, junk

When and Where Can I Bring My Contributions?
Between now and October 18 th , contributions of fashionable, attractive items in good to great condition should be brought to the sitting room near the back entrance of the lower level below Pearson Hall. You can call Mary Jane at 656-7653 if you need more information or access to the building.

How Else Can I Help?
Volunteers are key to the success of the sale. We will be working at St. Andrew’s on Mondays and Fridays between now and the sale. Volunteers are also needed on October 18, 19 th and 20 th . To volunteer, please call Mary Jane at 656-7653.

Thank You
The funds raised through this sale will help ECW carry out its mission of hospitality and support for special projects and ministries at St. Andrew’s. Our thanks go too all parishioners for your help with this important project. –Nancy Dickens
A Radical Definition of Stewardship?

For this contribution from the archives, I’m turning once again to my favorite oracle, Father Michael R. Becker who, although with us for only a short time, left his imprint on St. Andrew’s in a number of ways. What follows, though, is something that he wrote much later. It is a powerful, perhaps even frightening, statement of the theology of stewardship.

“Our theology is simply this: that we believe that one’s stewardship is the best possible indication of one’s personal commitment to Jesus Christ, and that such committed giving frees one from the demonic hold which our money has over us and frees us to have a whole new set of priorities. This is so because:

  1. Money is where most of us ‘are at’—it is the real center of our lives, and our true security. The incredible hostility which any stewardship program can produce is surely proof enough that to be parted from our money is a serious threat to most people.
  2. True personal commitment, then, can come about in no better way than through the giving of money and being set free from the hold it has over us.

In reply to a remark of mine in a letter to him, Father Christian Swayne, of the Order of the Holy Cross, writes this to me: ‘What you say about pledging and personal commitment is so right on. I think that if the Church didn’t need money, it would have to take it anyway and burn it, because it is so essential to give it. Certainly Jesus thought so, and said over and over again, sell all that you have and give it away. We might as well give it to the poor, but the point is the giving away of it – not relieving the poor.’”*

Strong stuff! -Jim Weingartner

*Published in John H. McNaughton, ed., More Blessed to Give. Straight talk on Stewardship (New York: Church Publishing, 2002), 79-80.
Announcements

Coffee Hour Volunteers Needed
Coffee Hour volunteers are still needed for November 18th and 25th and December 16 and 23rd. Please call me at 656-6781, or send email to silverlining6@charter.net if you want to volunteer. I would prefer that parishioners contact me instead of having to make the calls. -Pat Rudloff
 The St. Andrew's Week-End Updat e , a weekly emailed newsletter, is designed to keep parishioners up to date on church activities. Please send news items to Editors Marianne Cavanaugh and Jane Weingartner by 11 a.m. on Tuesday to have them appear in the following Friday's newsletter.